Child&#39;s vehicle



May 12, 1925.

w. H.BANKs oHILDs 'VEHICLE Filed Jan. 2. 1924 by Let/WWW Cil `object of the invention is to prov vofa horse `mounted on wheels with `means Patented May 12, 1,925.

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WILLIAM H, BANKS, WINTIRO-P, l"MASSAGHUSETTS CHILDS `VIEHICLE- Appiication sied `January a, i924. jserialfiro. eeaseo.

ide a ligure whereby the rider may, at will, cause it to imitate the action of a bucking horse.

rlhe invention will be fully understood from the following description whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will be pointed out. and clearly de fined in the claims 'at theclose Vofthis specitication.

In the drawings: y

Fig. l is a side elevation of a vehicle constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the vehicle tipped backward with his fore feet and attached driving wheels lifted entirely from the iioor in imitation of a bucking horse. y

Fig. fl is a fragmentary view showing a modified form of a resilient tail.

Referring now to the drawings, l represents the figure of a horse, the figure having a fore part 2 which preferably has a hinged connection 3 with the rear portion so that the forepart may be turned wit-h relation to the rear portion, if desired, to steer the vehicle. The figure has forward leg members et, a, and rear leg members 5, 5. The forward leg' members l are eccentrically connected with a forward wheel 6 which is the driving wheel, and the rear leg members 5 are mounted upon av cross bar T having journals or trunnions 8, S, on which the rear wheels 9, 9, turn. Preferably` the body portion is rigidly connected with the rear leg members.

The two forward legs 1l, t, straddle the forward wheel 6 and a shaft l0 passes eceentrically through said wheel and through the lower part of the forward leg members 4;.

f The wheel 6 is fast on the shaft so that the wheel. revolves therewith, but the shaft passes throughthe legmembers 4f, 4,.1and is journalled therein. lThe end portions fof' the shaft l0 project somedistance beyond the outer faces of thevportions of the'leg members with which they are 'conneetedand have mounted thereon the pedalmembers 11, v11. It is obvious that when the pedals Aare operated so as to rotate the shaft 10, tliedriving wheel 6 will be rotated aiid,by .reason `of the eccentric connection ofthe shaft l0 withjthe wheel 6, the forepart of .thehorse will rise 'and fall and Athe krear wheels 9 will rotate. A seat 4l2 is .mounted on the rearpart ofthe body rportion, preferably extending son-iewhat back of `a. rvertiealline through the 'axis of the trunnions 8, '8, on

fwhich the-rear `wheels 'are mounted.

yTheligure is providedwitha tail member 13 "having an extension s Urine' soi-tion la t i :3 u .preferably'carrying at its-end a wheel lo havino' a. ournal connection .16 withtlie said c V 1 Y spring ift. lhis spring extends `in ra somewhat downwail'd direction rearwardly, :but

is not of sufficient length to normally reach the ground or floor on which the vehicle stands. y Preferably, when the vehicle is in its normal position with the forward and rear wheels both resting on the licor, ground or other bottom support, the wheel 15 connected with the spring extension of the tail will be elevated at some distance above the floor. As shown in the drawings, `it is about the saine wheels.l

At 1.7 is shown in dotted lines the representation of a child astride the figure and the seat l2. In Fig. l he is shownisitting upright, as in the ordinary position of riding. He can propel `the vehicle with his feet by means of the pedals 11 after the man-f ner common in y velocipedes and, as long as he continues sitting in this normal position or with his body bent forward, the yfor-v ward part of the figure will rise and fall after the manner of a galloping horse, while the pedals are being operated to propel the figure. lf the rider bends his body somewhat backwarch'as shown in Figure 3, he will thereby throw the centre of gravity back of the rear axle or trunnions 8, thereby causing the forward part of the ligure and the forward wheels to bodily tip upward, and the rear part will tip downward until the wheel l5 carried at the end of the tail spring la strikes the groundor floor,` as

elevation as the axis of the rear Cit shown in Fig. 3, which will serve as a stop to prevent the figure from entirely tipping over backwards. The spring 14 willbecome Y Hexed by the force of striking the floor, thereby being put under tension, and every time the rider bends his body forward again so as to throw the centre of gravity forward of the'reanwheels, the forepart will come down again onto the ground andv the tension of the spring 1I will accelerate its return. It will thus be seen that the rider can easily, by slight movement of his body backward and forward, give the aforesaid bucking movement to the figure somewhat in imitation of theniovement-of the bucking' of a live horse.

In the modification shown inFig. 4, the resiliency of the tail is obtained by means of a spring hinge having a spring lTl coiled around the pintle 18. The twol leaves 19, 20, of the hinge are connected, respectively, with the two sections 21, 22, ofthe tail.

lVhile I have shown' the iigure of the device as fashioned in imitation of a horse so that it will appear more life-like, itis obvious that the ligure may be fashioned to represent any animal or any inanimate object and still provide the peculiar mechanical action. It is preferred, however, to have the figure made in the form of a horse, as the horse is more commonly associated with an animal which is to be ridden and which sometimes bucks with its rider.

Vhat I claim is l. A childs vehicle having a body portion front and rear leg members and wheels on which said leg members are mounted, means whereby the rider seated on the body portion may propel the vehicle, and a rearwardly extending resilient member normally raised slightly above the level of the surface on which the vehicle is being propelled.

2. A childs vehicle having a ligure with a body portion and front and rear leg members and wheels on which said leg members are mounted, means whereby the rider seated onthe bodyportiion may propel the vchicle, a rearwardly extending resilient member normally raised slightly above the level of the surface on which the vehicle is being propelled, the body portion being capable of being tipped somewhat backward at will by the rider until the said resilient member comes in'contact with the surface on which the vehicle is being propelled, the body portion being adapted to be` tipped forward again so that the forward wheels will rest on the surface by the shifting of the position of the body of the rider.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM n. BANKS. l 

